Rihkhawdar To Hakha Via Parts Unknown

bsacbob

Administrator (Retired)
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Location
Chiang Rai
Bikes
Honda CRM-AR 250, Honda CRF 250-L, Suzuki V Strom XT 650 Honda XR250 Baja BMW F650GS
A cold early start leaving the lake behind us, not much sleep as we had late night guests arriving who I guess like us found the only available rooms in town. Today's ride was to a place called Hakha, maps showed no direct road with doubling back on the bulldust trail we arrived one, some local intel told us of a way through so we gave it a shot.

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What a waste of a fine building just needs a little upkeep and electric !!

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Gassing up at the local station, on this occasion prices pretty reasonable.

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Don't see too many people up and around early in these parts until the sun gets high in the sky, we both felt the cold around here, in the shade it was finger-numbing.

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Wasn't long before we needed a hot drink and get in the sun for a while to thaw out, in no time we became the local attraction at the tea shop, The local Pastor ( well it is Baptiste land ) in the fancy dressing gown introduced himself in perfect English and invited us round for some hot tea.

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Turns out he was 2 years into a 3-year term in this village for the princely sum of $80 a month.

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The local teacher brewing our tea.

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He asked us if we wanted to visit the local school, the total number of students 17 where they study what they call basic education until they are 12 and that's their school education finished.

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Pretty basic but it covers the needs of this farming community.

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We chatted for a while, but since we had no idea of the route ahead we bid our farewells and thanked him for his hospitality.

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Every village has a local one-stop shop of some kind, which also doubles up as a restaurant/tea shop.

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Little surprised to see these guys posted on the wall, I guess football knows no boundaries.

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Indeed a small village perched on the hillside.

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Some reasonable elevation gained today topping off at around 2000 m.

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Church with an amazing view.

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Headstones are a regular sight along the roads in this area, but these the only ones we saw with carvings like this on them.

1 - 23.jpg

Here a stone remembering a fallen soldier, presumably to the Japanese conflict.

1 - 24.jpg

We are not sure of the significance of the stones, not sure if they mark some fatality or just a prominent spot for remembrance.

1 - 25.jpg


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The skies clearing a little as we gained elevation, the views spectacular.

1 - 27.jpg

Several twists and turns on the route and junctions not knowing which one to take, most cases we guessed right.

1 - 28.jpg


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As usual, the Baptiste church dominated the village not on in its size and grandeur.

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Firewood was a precious item and often see ladies selling such wood for a living.

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Always a good indicator your in isolated regions we these guys show up, everything on this one you could possibly want..

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Many trails spidering off in all directions, it would be an interesting place to explore further, all totally unmapped.

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Our trail disappearing into the hillside.

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A few delays along the way for landslide clearance, rainy season journey times could be lengthy.

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The old British built Bailey bridge being upgraded.

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Corn racked up for drying.

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The kitchen sink guy was keeping a good pace.

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Another delay.

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We finally came out on the road between Falam and Hakha, cutting a huge corner off our proposed route.

1 - 57.jpg

Finally onto some sealed surfaces and with that the inevitable road crews breaking stones.

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Pretty bleak accommodation for these workers and their families, it must be brutal up here in the rainy season.

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The first fire of the trip, this by the look was spontaneous.

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We stopped roadside for some food and a very late breakfast.

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This was less than 100 baht.

N22.84402° E93.54608°

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She was a character and was happy to sell her basket of firewood.

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Hakha coming into view, it's actually a huge town.

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Home to the Chin Parliament building.

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None of the accommodation looked that inviting to honest and we settled for the Shalom GH for $13 a night with shared bathrooms.

N22.64132° E93.60590°

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Not exactly the Ritz but it would do.

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Hakha was a strange place everybody living on top of each other, perched on the hillsides.

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Hakha town coffee was a cosy place, but no beer :-(

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Our GH soon would have a huge extension with a rooftop bar of some kind.

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Still no beer, but the Food court allowed us to bring in some takeaways, nice place and food, but soon the place was filled with thick smoke and time to head for bed.

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Interesting day but Hakha was a bit of a letdown, happy to move on in the morning.

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Here you can see the huge corner we took out by taking this route and not having to backtrack.

Screenshot 2020-03-10 at 17.16.56.png
 
Looks like an interesting place. Did you have any problems with checkpoints?

Funny you should ask that we never saw or had the slightest hint of trouble from any army or police the whole trip, almost like they all had gone on holiday.
 
U
Funny you should ask that we never saw or had the slightest hint of trouble from any army or police the whole trip, almost like they all had gone on holiday.
Strange. Peter Hardie had some trouble with both Army and Police.
 
A cold early start leaving the lake behind us, not much sleep as we had late night guests arriving who I guess like us found the only available rooms in town. Today's ride was to a place called Hakha, maps showed no direct road with doubling back on the bulldust trail we arrived one, some local intel told us of a way through so we gave it a shot.

View attachment 85980


View attachment 85981

What a waste of a fine building just needs a little upkeep and electric !!

View attachment 85982

Gassing up at the local station, on this occasion prices pretty reasonable.

View attachment 85983

Don't see too many people up and around early in these parts until the sun gets high in the sky, we both felt the cold around here, in the shade it was finger-numbing.

View attachment 85984



View attachment 85985


View attachment 85986

Wasn't long before we needed a hot drink and get in the sun for a while to thaw out, in no time we became the local attraction at the tea shop, The local Pastor ( well it is Baptiste land ) in the fancy dressing gown introduced himself in perfect English and invited us round for some hot tea.

View attachment 85987

Turns out he was 2 years into a 3-year term in this village for the princely sum of $80 a month.

View attachment 85988

The local teacher brewing our tea.

View attachment 85989

He asked us if we wanted to visit the local school, the total number of students 17 where they study what they call basic education until they are 12 and that's their school education finished.

View attachment 85990


View attachment 85991

Pretty basic but it covers the needs of this farming community.

View attachment 85992

We chatted for a while, but since we had no idea of the route ahead we bid our farewells and thanked him for his hospitality.

View attachment 85993



View attachment 85995

Every village has a local one-stop shop of some kind, which also doubles up as a restaurant/tea shop.

View attachment 85994

Little surprised to see these guys posted on the wall, I guess football knows no boundaries.

View attachment 85996

View attachment 86014

Indeed a small village perched on the hillside.

View attachment 85997

Some reasonable elevation gained today topping off at around 2000 m.

View attachment 85998

Church with an amazing view.

View attachment 85999


View attachment 86000


View attachment 86001

Headstones are a regular sight along the roads in this area, but these the only ones we saw with carvings like this on them.

View attachment 86002

Here a stone remembering a fallen soldier, presumably to the Japanese conflict.

View attachment 86003

We are not sure of the significance of the stones, not sure if they mark some fatality or just a prominent spot for remembrance.

View attachment 86004


View attachment 86005

The skies clearing a little as we gained elevation, the views spectacular.

View attachment 86006

Several twists and turns on the route and junctions not knowing which one to take, most cases we guessed right.

View attachment 86007


View attachment 86008

As usual, the Baptiste church dominated the village not on in its size and grandeur.

View attachment 86009


View attachment 86010

Firewood was a precious item and often see ladies selling such wood for a living.

View attachment 86011


View attachment 86012

Always a good indicator your in isolated regions we these guys show up, everything on this one you could possibly want..

View attachment 86013

Many trails spidering off in all directions, it would be an interesting place to explore further, all totally unmapped.

View attachment 86015



View attachment 86016


View attachment 86017


View attachment 86018

View attachment 86019

Our trail disappearing into the hillside.

View attachment 86020

A few delays along the way for landslide clearance, rainy season journey times could be lengthy.

View attachment 86021


View attachment 86022

The old British built Bailey bridge being upgraded.

View attachment 86023


View attachment 86024


View attachment 86025


View attachment 86026


View attachment 86027

Corn racked up for drying.

View attachment 86028

The kitchen sink guy was keeping a good pace.

View attachment 86029


View attachment 86030

Another delay.

View attachment 86031


View attachment 86033

View attachment 86032


View attachment 86034


View attachment 86035

We finally came out on the road between Falam and Hakha, cutting a huge corner off our proposed route.

View attachment 86036

Finally onto some sealed surfaces and with that the inevitable road crews breaking stones.

View attachment 86037


View attachment 86038


View attachment 86039

Pretty bleak accommodation for these workers and their families, it must be brutal up here in the rainy season.

View attachment 86040

The first fire of the trip, this by the look was spontaneous.

View attachment 86041


View attachment 86042

We stopped roadside for some food and a very late breakfast.

View attachment 86043

This was less than 100 baht.

N22.84402° E93.54608°

View attachment 86044


View attachment 86045

She was a character and was happy to sell her basket of firewood.

View attachment 86046

Hakha coming into view, it's actually a huge town.

View attachment 86047


View attachment 86048View attachment 86049

Home to the Chin Parliament building.

View attachment 86050

None of the accommodation looked that inviting to honest and we settled for the Shalom GH for $13 a night with shared bathrooms.

N22.64132° E93.60590°

View attachment 86051

Not exactly the Ritz but it would do.

View attachment 86052

Hakha was a strange place everybody living on top of each other, perched on the hillsides.

View attachment 86053


View attachment 86054

Hakha town coffee was a cosy place, but no beer :-(

View attachment 86055

Our GH soon would have a huge extension with a rooftop bar of some kind.

View attachment 86056


View attachment 86058


View attachment 86059

Still no beer, but the Food court allowed us to bring in some takeaways, nice place and food, but soon the place was filled with thick smoke and time to head for bed.

View attachment 86060

Interesting day but Hakha was a bit of a letdown, happy to move on in the morning.

View attachment 86061

View attachment 86062

Here you can see the huge corner we took out by taking this route and not having to backtrack.

View attachment 86064
Hi Bob just wondering if you have the GPX track you used on this leg of the trip Thanks
 

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  • Rihkhawder to Hakha 2020-02-18.GPX
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